The Courier

Dear Parents

The theme of my assembly to the school earlier in the week was ‘how to be good member of the community’. Community Week is now a well-established part of the Year 6 programme and this year they have done some sterling work helping with the Reception children as they went on their very first trip to the swimming pool, as well as cleaning and polishing the brass over at St Marks church and learning some potentially lifesaving skills in their first aid course on Thursday. All of this fits in very well with the good citizens part of the School Promise and will hopefully help the children form a strong idea of the positive role they can play in society at large.

We also had Move-Up Day on Wednesday and this went particularly well this year, with the children very happily going off to their new teachers, spending time with them and sharing some hopes and aspirations for the year ahead. Next year's Reception class came in beautifully and I am pleased to report that we had no tears this year, so we must be doing something right.

Next week much of the focus is on our departing Year 6 class, with end of year celebrations and leavers’ service all ready to go. I suspect this may be the occasion for some tears. They have been a wonderful year group and I look forward to seeing them off in the right way, as well as having a chance to bid farewell to some very loyal families who have been with the school for many years and will leave us this July. There are three in particular, the Boltons, Deerys and Sarkies, where the youngest child will leave us this year, where the families can claim an accumulated time in school for their children of more than 50 years, which is really quite remarkable given the seven (or 9) year time span most children will spend with us.

I hope everyone who came along to yesterday’s Welcome Evening found it a useful and informative event and that you now feel ready for the Crescent year ahead. It was lovely to see so many of you there, as well as to welcome three new members of staff to the school team in Ms Clark, Miss Bowdige and Miss Quirke. We wish them well.

On a personal note, I am preparing for a cycling trip around Belgium with my youngest son in the first week of the school holiday so I will need to do a bit more training this weekend. If anyone knows a cure for saddle sores,  let me know.

Whatever you are doing this weekend I hope you are able to spend some of it relaxing with your children.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster